.45 and .40 input please.

[Barang]

45's fun and expensive My wife doesn't have a problem with the recoil of our Sig 1911. The only issue (not related to 45 ACP) is that the checkering is too aggressive for her as it hurts her hands. She doesn't like shooting it much.

I wear baseball gloves when I shoot my .40 and it soften the kick. Try it, she might love it.

If you're getting one just to have , 45 all the way. Recoil is recoil. It's gonna be there. Go big.

.40 is my bedside defender. Once I get and shoot my future .45 and like the recoil, I might use it as my new bedside defender.

[Grayblue]

The following is my article about 40S&W.

People tend to think of it in terms of relationship between 9mm Parabellum and 45ACP, thinking that it is intended to be a caliber that is a compromise between the two.

While the "compromise" design aspect may be true in some regards, it does not apply to all aspects, especially ones that are important. For a shooter, what 40S&W WAS INTENDED TO BE does not matter. Only thing that does matter is WHAT IT IS. Most complaints about 40S&W comes from misunderstanding of what 40S&W is.

So, is 40S&W a compromise caliber intended to blend betwenn 9mm Parabellum and 45ACP?

The ansewer: ONLY in dimensional aspects, such as bullet size/weight, and capacity.

That is where the "balance between 9mm and 45ACP" ends.

Among people who complain about 40S&W, the largest portion of them complains about excessive recoil or "snappiness." In my view, that is a very natural consequence of people generally viewing 40S&W as "in between 9mm and 45ACP" caliber. As far as controllability goes, 40S&W is nothing of the kind. If you look at ballistics chart of combat ammo manufacturers, such as Speer, this will become quickly evident. The power level of 40S&W is not in between 9mm and 45ACP. It is actually just as, and often more, powerful than 45ACP.

We cannot blame the ammo manufacturers for this. The power level between 9mm and 45ACP is not that great, so if the goal is to make an ammo more powerful than 9mm, then it would naturally end up being same or close to 45ACP, and the design goal was not to go higher, as was the case with 10mm.

That means, with a 40S&W, you will generally end up shooting a ammo that is just as, and often more, powerful as 45ACP out of a gun that are generally dimensionally smaller and lighter. Considering most people who shoot 45ACP use 230gr standard pressure, most 40S&W combat loads are actually more powerful than that of 45ACP.

That can be good news to people such as myself, who wants to fire the most powerful ammo I can still manage out of a gun that is not bigger than average 9mm pistol dimensions. 45ACP/10mm pistols generally do not fit me well or have too low ammo capacity.

However, if you are looking for something a little more powerful than 9mm, but more controllable than 45ACP, do not choose a 40S&W for that reason. It is nothing of the kind.


40S&W Speer GDHP in 180gr and Winchester Ranger 180gr produce about 420 ft.lbs for muzzle energy. That goes up to 484 ft.lbs in Speer 165gr, and 476 ft.lbs in case of Winchester RA40TA.

45ACP Speer GDHP in 230gr produces around 404 ft.lbs. Federal HST in 45ACP is also 404 ft.lbs. 45ACP 230gr Winchester RA45T is about 418 ft.lbs.

As you can see from above the heaviest of 40S&W either matches or exceed 230 gr 45ACP power level.

Now, lets also compare lighter bullet loads.

Of course, lighter weight 45ACP ammo do gain more power. 185gr Speer GDHP gets 453 ft.lbs. But, 40S&W easily overpowers that if it also goes with lighter weight. 165gr and 155gr in 40S&W overpowers it.

So, the above indicates that heaviest 40S&W overpowers heaviest 45ACP.

Even if 45ACP get more power with lighter bullets, 40S&W will still overpower it with lighter bullets also.

Only case a 45ACP will overpower 40S&W is if it goes +P.

[corcoraj2002]

I've shot an XD .40 and 45. The .40 has a greater muzzle flip and makes it harder to hold point of aim or get follow on shots on target. I find the 45 push less flip makes follow up shots easier. I use my .40 for HD as I have more experience with it and I'm more comfortable with the platform. YMMV.

[Barang]

I like how the article above explained why .40 is snappier than .45. It helps me understand the effect of muzzle energy on guns. Does this mean that 40S&W is more devastating than 45ACP? or 45 still has the edge because of the bullet's diameter?

[Ritchie8719]

The following is my article about 40S&W.

Since your "article" doesn't mention 10mm it ignores the fact that .40 wasn't a design, it was a fallback from a failure.

Remember when we had leaded, unleaded, and supreme gas? 3 tanks in the ground. Now there isn't leaded, but there are still three tanks, because it is so darn easy to market the tweener, despite it being unnecessary.

.40 makes bigger holes in paper than 9mm, which you can see. End of difference. .45 holds fewer and you still have to hit something that leaks.

[pastureofmuppets]

Does this mean that 40S&W is more devastating than 45ACP? or 45 still has the edge because of the bullet's diameter?

[Sunday]

The 40 seems like a 6 lb slap and the 45 seems like a 6 lb push . No biggie either way. I would go all 9mm if I had to do it all over again. Two or three of the exact same pistol, spare parts and many magazines lots of one kind of ammo instead of a little bit of 3 kinds of ammo.

[AregularGuy]

I believe Glock makes 10-round magazines for .45 but are 10-round magazines for other makes of pistols popular or readily available?

I have an XD and I believe there is no such thing as a 10-round magazine in .45 for the XD. I think it jumped straight to 12 or 13 rounds which of course is illegal in CA.

Just an FYI, there are certainly 10 round .45 mags for the XD. In fact they fit both XD and XDM .45, the only XD/XDM caliber that is interchangeable.

[Deimos887]

...and GrayBlue pretty much nailed it

The hottest +P (both .40 & .45) load data Ive seen (although I havent cranked either that high)... both will exceed over 550ft/lbs, with that being about .45acp's limitations... and .40sw reaching up to about 585ft/lbs... obviously though that difference is negligible, but its there none the less.

[Deimos887]

^ and pastureofmuppets is also spot on...

[enzo357]

Started shooting a 40 in limited. Got to be honest, do not even feel the recoil anymore. Maybe it is snappy, but it gets back on target fast.

[mt417]

My first pistol was a HK USP .40, it was good but the recoil snapped up and to the sides, random angles so it was difficult to make accurate follow up shots for me.

I now have a Springfield 1911 TRP Operator. The recoil rolls straight up and back and the front sight drops straight down for easier follow up shots. The 1911 I have is heavy with a bull barrel so the recoil is really soft.

I've shot my friends 9mm, too snappy for me but not as bad as the .40cal. You can train with ANY caliber though and get it down, it's just personal preference.

[Barang]

Make sense, forgot about the expansion factor.

[glock7]

for me they are both controllable, the 40 was the archtypical "snappy" and the 45 is a "push". toss a coin? i like the .45 personally.

[SansSouci]

It would depend upon what your intended use is. A .45 ACP fills a lot of roles. It's a very accurate round. With target loads, it's very fun to shoot. It is every easy to carry in back country, especially while fishing. And it will work on CA black bear and lion should you have defend yourself.